When they say they don't want help
by The Hot Hobbit
Summary: When Hermione and Ginny get abducted by houseelves it's up to Ron and Harry to get them back...


Chapter 1 - The Ransom

Author's Note: This story takes place 6 years after Harry, Hermione, and Ron have graduate from Hogwarts. Harry is training to become an Auror and is dating Ginny (yes!). Ron and Hermione are engaged and are living together in Ron's loft apartment (yes, even a minister lives in an apartment, which after living in one during his years right out of Hogwarts; Ron had grown increasingly fond of them) Ron has become the Minister of Magic. Hermione, who was offered the position first, has become teacher at Hogwarts where she gives long lectures about house elf history and has gotten many people to see the truth behind the creatures. Anyway, my story takes place at the beginning of summer break (for Hermione) and so, let the story begin:

It had been a long day at the office. That was Ron's first thought when he stepped through the doors of his and Hermione's loft in the middle of Diagon Alley. Well, of course it was technically HIS loft, since he paid for it, but Hermione lived there with him. His cheery mood ended quickly, when he realized that Hermione was not in the building. He usually could hear her singing in the kitchen, concocting something that usually ended up tasting delicious in her cauldron. Often she was being helped by his sister of all people.

It wasn't right, he thought. After thinking about it a little more he concluded that the two were just out shopping or having their hair and nails done. After settling his conscience, he decided to sit and relax with some butter beer.

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"Ron! Hey Ron!" The drowsy Minister woke to the sound of somebody pounding on his door. He slowly started to walk over to open it, but before he could Fred and George Weasley apparated right in front of him, close enough that they knocked him to the floor.

"Sorry Ronniekins!" George smiled, clearly happy at seeing the Minister of Magic knocked right off his sock-clad feet. Fred however ignored them both, and decided to go and help himself to the butter beer and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans on Ron's coffee table.

"Hey I was going to eat that you know!" Ron mumbled as he picked himself up off the ground. "Why the surprise visit from you two?" He asked casually, walking toward them with all the grace he could muster after the fall.

"Well…" Fred tried to answer in between munching on the beans.

"Oh, I'll tell him Fred," George broke in, sounding irritated at having to stop gulping down the bottle of butter beer. "Anyway Mum wanted to know if you've seen Ginny." The question seemed somewhat blunt, but Ron didn't appear to have noticed.

"Uh, no should I have seen her?" He responded, his voice embedded with surprise.

"Well, probably not, but you know Mum, worry, worry, worry. The poor old girl was just frightening herself to death at the thought of her little baby being out all day with Harry." George explained, thoroughly bored with it all.

"Of course nothing against Harry," Fred cut in, seeing the look on Ron's face, "Harry is a dear boy you know, but I just don't trust he and Ginny alone together. You know those two are so innocent." Fred continued in his best 'Mrs. Weasley' voice, as George bit back a snicker.

"Poor mum," George put in, "too bad she doesn't know how 'innocent' they act when she's not around." Ron had to snicker at that, the twins were only too right. He knew Harry and Ginny, and they were anything but innocent little tots.

"Well Hermione hasn't been back in today, so I have a feeling that she and Ginny went off together." Ron informed them.

"It's a good thing we don't live at home anymore you know If we did mum would have sent out a search party to track Harry and Ginny as if they were bloody murders from Azkaban." George mumbled with enough annoyance in his voice to let everyone know it had happened before, whether the twins lived at home or not.

By now with the success of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes they were living quite comfortabley in a Hogsmeade apartment building. They had actually bought the whole building, running their shop on the first floor and taking over the rest of the building for themselves.

"We do have to get going though. Thanks for the nice visit. You're doing a lot with the place." Fred said, as he looked around at the loft.

"You'll have to excuse the old bludger, he just has to get home and make himself pretty before Angelina comes over!" George apologized, giving Ron a big wink.

"Yeah, okay, but…" Ron was about to start a sentence when the twins apparated back to their home. No sooner had he started back to his couch than Harry Potter himself apparated into the living room. He looked quite distressed, his black hair messier than ever and his eyes full of distress (he had gotten rid of the glasses and instead just did a little bit o' magic his seventh year to have 20/20 vision).

"Have… h-h-have you seen Ginny lately? I can't find her anywhere; I don't know what to do! She was supposed to meet me for dinner, but she never showed."

"Well, I thought that maybe she was with Hermione." Ron started, sounding annoyed. "Hey, can I get you anything to drink?" he added, now walking over to the fridge. Before Harry could answer, he heard a bottle smashing on the floor and Ron was running back toward him.

"Ron what's wrong with you!" Harry asked his friend, who was starting to hyperventilate.

"Read … read it," he managed to gasp while passing a piece of parchment to Harry. "They've taken them..."


End file.
